Separate Lives
by JazziePerson
Summary: TV Show Episode Title Challenge - Prompt Set #18: Title Challenge: One Hugs, the Other Doesn't - After Hotch narrowly escapes an accident, Emily has to wait for a moment with her privte Hotch.


**Author's Note: **So here is another prompt story from sienna27 and Kavi Leighanna's TV Prompt Forum. I seem to be working through this set, I think I've done three now. Anyway, I hope you like it and please review. Oh and thank you to my Mum for reading this through as I'm lacking a beta-reader.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the original Criminal Minds characters.

**Prompt Set #18**

Show: Cheers

Title Challenge: One Hugs, The Other Doesn't

Separate Lives

Emily slammed on the breaks and threw open the car door, leaving the ignition running as she scrambled out of the vehicle. Panic was overpowering her but she was battling to stay in control. Hotch needed her to be in control. He needed her to have a clear head. So she tried.

Reaching the yellow tape, she paused for a moment and then ducked under it, flashing her badge in the direction of the milling cops and EMTs. No one paused to look, no one paused to ask her what she was doing. And she was glad. Because right then, she was struggling to hold herself together and if someone spoke to her, she had a feeling she'd dissolve into a puddle of tears on the ground.

It didn't take long to find the centre of the mayhem. The car was resting on its roof, the windows shattered and the body work mangled. Emily's breath caught in her throat and she swallowed stiffly. Hotch.

Crouching down, she realised that there was no one inside the car. Her heart started beating again, at least normally again.

She stood up and looked around. Less than twenty metres away, an ambulance was parked haphazardly with its lights still flashing. Emily started walking towards it but soon she was sprinting and she skidded to a halt beside it. She peered around the back and saw inside Hotch sitting on a gurney, being checked out by an EMT.

Emily moved into Hotch's field of vision, waiting anxiously for him to notice her. She twisted her fingers together. She tried not to look as anxious as she felt.

After a few moments, Hotch looked up and smiled at her. But it was the professional smile. Emily knew that that meant she couldn't get the hug in until later, until they were alone. On duty Hotch didn't do such open displays of affection. But off duty Hotch was a bit different.

So Emily stood there, watching Hotch have his wrist wrapped, have shards of glass brushed off him and have his vitals checked. When he'd been checked for a concussion, and found not to have one, he was released. He stepped slowly out of the ambulance and stopped beside Emily. He took her hand and squeezed it.

"I'm glad you didn't die, sir." Emily smiled.

Hotch smiled back. "Me too, Prentiss."

"Come on," she pulled on his hand, "I'll take you home. Your car's totalled."

They were silent in the car. Hotch was staring out of the window, her eyes glazed over and Emily glared through the windscreen. Her hands were restless on the steering wheel, her fingers tapping and tapping. Hotch pretended not to notice, conceding to wait until they got home. Clearly Emily had been very worried and now, all that nervous energy was about to explode out of her.

A few minutes later, Emily pulled up the car and got out. Hotch followed her as she locked the car and began walking towards Hotch's apartment building. She was still silent, and Hotch was feeling more and more apprehensive the longer she said nothing. A storm was coming, that was for sure.

When they reached his apartment, Hotch stepped forward and unlocked the door, letting them both in. He pushed the door shut behind them and bolted it as he always did. Then he turned to look at Emily, who was standing in the centre of his living room.

"Emily?" he prompted and she met his eyes. He wasn't surprised to see the fear in her eyes.

"How did you get out of the car?" she asked, and then all the questions and information tumbled out in a tangled mess. "JJ called me. She said you'd been in an accident. What happened? How did you get out of the car? Are you okay?"

Hotch stepped forward and reached out. He gently rested his hand on her arm and he felt some of the tension dissipate. "I'm okay, Emily. I promise you, I'm fine. The EMTs wouldn't have let me go if they didn't agree."

Emily nodded. "What happened?"

"Another car sped out in front of me at the intersection and I couldn't brake fast enough. The car spun out and turned over a couple of times. I managed to get out before it went over. The other driver was okay as well." Hotch told her the story quietly. He thought, probably, the reason he wasn't freaking out was because the reality of the situation hadn't kicked in yet. And that was a good thing here because it meant that he was able to reassure Emily. And hopefully, when it did hit him, Emily would be in the position he was currently in and would be helping him.

"So, you're okay?" Emily asked again, her voice shaking slightly.

"Yes, I am." Hotch told her again. "I promise you, Emily Prentiss, I'm absolutely fine."

That having been said, Emily stepped forward hesitantly and wrapped her arms around Hotch. He returned her hug and squeezed her tight, trying to communicate clearly to her that he was very much alive and absolutely fine. Emily's grip around him was almost uncomfortably tight but Hotch didn't mind. If it made her feel better, then it made him feel better.

That was when he felt the hot, wet tears soaking through his shirt. Hotch realised that Emily was crying. Her breathing hadn't changed but it seemed that all her fear was pouring out of her tear ducts.

"It's okay, Emily. I'm okay." Hotch whispered into her hair.

"I know." She whispered back. Then she looked up. Her face was smeared with tears and mascara and her eyelashes had clumped together with the tears. She gave Hotch a little smile and wiped her face with her sleeve.

"I'm really glad you didn't die, Hotch." She told him.

Hotch couldn't help but bark a laugh. "Me too, Emily. I'm really glad I didn't die as well."


End file.
